The Christmas shopping season is underway for some while others will wait until after Thanksgiving. St. Cloud State Economist King Banaian joined me on WJON today.  He expects a good Christmas shopping season as consumers are still spending money.  Banaian indicates the GDP numbers came out for last quarter and it shows consumer spending is still very strong.

Gas prices are on the decline in Minnesota and largely throughout the country.  Banaian expects gas prices to continue to go down.  He explains the reason for this is simple, supply and demand.  Banaian indicates supply has been up while demand is down.  He says the OPEC countries announced over the weekend that they are reducing the amount of oil they are supplying to the market with the intention to stabilize gas prices.  Banaian does believe an additional drop in price will happen but not by much more.  He thinks it’s possible local stations in Minnesota will raise prices slightly with the firearms deer hunting opener set for this weekend.

St. Cloud isn’t the only community trying to revitalize its downtown.  Banaian says businesses and growth throughout time have gravitated toward transportation hubs.  He says the locations where Highways 15 and 10 intersect with Highway 23 in St. Cloud have led to commercial growth to those areas and away from downtown.  Banaian believes downtowns including St. Cloud’s have a purpose and revitalization can be achieved.  He says many of the shoppers coming from western Stearns County to St. Cloud spend much of their time near Crossroads Mall and locations in western St. Cloud or Waite Park.

If you’d like to listen to my full conversation with King Banaian, it is available below.

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